Thursday, February 18, 2010

Every once in a while, something happens that makes you put life’s little day-in, day-out annoyances in perspective. Such a moment occurred earlier this week when I learned that one of the best Lost bloggers out there, my friend and fellow DarkUFO recapper Vozzek, lost his home to a fire. The good news is that his family and pets are all safe, he is currently in temporary housing, and an incredible support system of family and friends are helping him put things back in order. As he’s one of the most positive and coolest guys I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, I’d like to ask everyone to send some prayers, positive vibes, extra-good karma, or whatever else it is you think might help his way. Some of you who read Dark’s post about Vozzek's situation have asked me if there’s anything else you can do – and my response is, “I think right about now would be a GREAT time to show your support and buy his awesome book!”

I know Vozzek was counting on “The Substitute” to take his mind off of things for a bit, and I dare say that it probably did, as a lot of crazy stuff went down in that hour. Which means there’s much to cover, but first – as is becoming a bit of a Season Six posting tradition – let me revisit two issues from my “What Kate Does” write-up that I received a particularly high number of emails and comments about.

1) Some people thought that Jack recognized Desmond on the plane because of their previous encounter running up and down the stadium bleachers. But, as I said in my “ LA X (Part 1)” post, Des probably never trained for the Widmore-sponsored sailing race if Widmore went bye-bye with the rest of the Island in the alternate timeline. Further, in the original timeline, Desmond immediately recognized Jack when they saw each other three years later in the Swan hatch. Desmond did not recognize Jack on Bizarro 815. So my point is, Jack is experiencing some sort of latent memory of Desmond most likely because his “other life” on the Island is trying to reach out and make him remember. It’s even manifesting itself in physical ways, like that nick on his neck. But that doesn’t seem to be happening with Desmond.

2) Several people didn’t understand how I thought Sayid could be “claimed” by the Man in Black (MIB) since he was one of the 815ers that Jacob touched. I guess my reasoning with this one is simply that once one of The Touched goes and gets himself killed, all bets are off – MIB is then free to do some claiming. We’ve clearly seen this happen already to a much more severe extent with Locke, who had also been visited, and perhaps even brought back to life after his eight-story fall, by Jacob. Once Ben killed Locke, MIB was able to take his form. Now, am I holding out hope that Jacob instilled a special power in both Locke and Sayid that will prevent them from being completely taken over by the MIB (even though MIB isn’t in Locke’s original body)? Yes, I am. And I think we’ve seen some evidence of that already, which I’ll cover later.

OK! On to “The Substitute.” Island events first.

I’M SURROUNDED BY LIARSEVERYWHERE I TURNI’M SURROUNDED BY IMPOSTORSEVERYWHERE I TURN

How cool was the Smokey Cam shot? (Dear Powers That Be at Disney: I think the “Smokey Flying Across the Island” scene could be leveraged into a very cool rollercoaster at your theme parks – hint, hint.) Are all you doubters finally satisfied that the Man in Black and Smokey are one and the same?

When MIB needed to chop Ageless Richard-in-a-Sack down from a tree, however, he had no choice but to transform back into Fake Locke and get to knife-wielding.

Richard was having none of Fake Locke’s crap and refused to skip off into the jungle with him. “I’ll never rule the universe with you!” he hissed. Or something like that. But Fake Locke didn’t even hear Richard’s defiant reply, because some bloody-armed mop-headed boy materialized in the middle of the jungle, freaking him out (and taking ten years off of my life in the process. You KNOW how I feel about creepy little kids!) Richard noticed Fake Locke’s wide-eyed stare and whipped around… but saw nothing. Now, I’m sure a lot of people are jumping to the conclusion that Richard was unable to see the kid. But I replayed that scene several times, and to me it looked like the boy had simply disappeared by the time Richard turned around. More on this in a bit.

Curiously, Fake Locke let Richard go. But he did warn him that “people seldom get a second chance,” which is of course the great irony of this season, since we’re seeing all of the 815ers do just that (in a way).

BLAME IT ON THEA-A-A-A-A-ALCOHOL

Next, Fake Locke set his sights on Sawyer, who was having a gay ol’ time guzzling down whatever Dharma Booze he could find back in his old house. I have to pause here for a moment and say that although Josh Holloway nearly took over as Man-Crying Champion in the last episode, he can’t even touch Matthew Fox’s Drunk-Acting skillz. If you want to see how Wasted, Bumbling Fool is done, check out Foxy’s manual (aka: every flash-forward in which Jack has a hillbilly beard). My husband was like, “Is the fact that Sawyer’s all squinty-eyed supposed to mean that he’s drunk?”

Clearly he wasn’t THAT drunk, though. Because within about 4 milliseconds he’d seen right through Fake Locke. It didn’t seem to bother him that some evil-ish being had taken on the appearance of his old friend, though, and when Fake Locke promised to be able to answer the mother of all questions – why the con man and his fellow Losties were on the Island in the first place – Sawyer was clearheaded enough to utter a line that dashed the hopes and dreams (nay, fantasies) of millions of women around the globe: “Well, I guess I better put some pants on.”

Once Sawyer was decent (subjective word, I realize), he and Fake Locke started making their way together across the jungle, and dammit if that spooky kid didn’t pop up and turn my blood cold once more. I thought it was HILARIOUS when Sawyer asked, “Who the hell’s that?” and Fake Locke was all surprised that Sawyer could also see the boy. Now, Fake Locke’s response could definitely be meant to confirm that the mystery kid was indeed invisible to Richard. Or it could just mean that, knowing WHO the kid was, Fake Locke simply didn’t think anyone else would be able to see him. Regardless, he went running after the boy, tripped, and then got all pissy after the towheaded pre-teen warned, “You know the rules. You can’t kill him.”

Though I haven’t had time to read through the message board or other Lost sites, I can only imagine that there are a ton of theories as to who this kid might be. To me, however, it seems like there’s really only one option: Young Jacob. As in, a vision of him, not a time-traveling version of the actual Young Jacob (this helps explain the initial shot of him with bloody arms, which were then clean the next time he appeared).

Here’s my reasoning:1) Who else is going to make the Man in Black that agitated? MIB thought he was finally rid of Jacob, and then there his old rival is again, in all of his youthful splendor to boot, reminding MIB of The Rules.2) I’d be willing to bet that Jacob and the Man in Black grew up together and therefore knew each other as kids. I’d also be willing to bet that Jacob appeared as a pre-teen because we’ll see him again at that age in a flashback where we’ll eventually get both his and the MIB’s full stories.3) The blood on the kid’s hands in his first appearance is probably meant to remind Fake Locke that HE has blood on his hands from killing Jacob, and Lord knows who else during his moonlighting stints as Smokey.4) The kid referenced The Rules. The Man in Black has spent several lifetimes trying to find a loophole around one of those rules – the one about how he couldn’t personally kill Jacob.5) Jacob would have a vested interest in wanting to keep all of the people he visited and touched off-Island safe. As he touched Sawyer, this is why Sawyer can see him, even though Young Jacob is probably just an apparition.

You can go through every other male character who has blond hair and try to make a plea for why it might be him, but there’s no case as strong as the one above, in my mind. The only other option I might buy is if the kid is just simply meant to represent the Island overall. Older Aaron? Huh? Why would he be dressed like that? Younger Locke? Ditto (and we’ve already seen Locke around this age in a flashback). Younger Sawyer? Wouldn’t Sawyer recognize himself? I’m stickin’ with Young Jacob!

ALWAYS SOMETHING THERETO REMIND ME

After the kid reminded Fake Locke about the rules, Fake Locke shouted Real Locke’s trademarked line – TWICE. I don’t know about you guys, but that – combined with the fact that the Man in Black somehow knew what Real Locke’s dying thoughts were (even though he isn’t in Real Locke’s body) – gives me hope that because Jacob’s healing powers were infused into Locke after his eight-story fall, Real Locke is somewhere deep inside of this impostor and is slowly but surely battling his way out.

While Fake Locke chased the Ghost Kid, Sawyer got a visit from Richard, who seemed extremely nervous about running into the bald baddie again. Richard tried to convince Sawyer to return to the Temple, but Sawyer was all, “Hell to the no.” Before he ran away, Richard warned Sawyer that Fake Locke’s goal was to kill the remaining 815ers.

In a cool shout-out to his time with Ben on the Hydra island in Season Three, Sawyer started talking about “Of Mice and Men” to Fake Locke, who mentioned that the 1937 novel was “a little after his time.” I thought that when Sawyer pulled a gun on Fake Locke he was going to reveal that he was TOTALLY on to his evil plan, but alas, Fake Locke sweet-talked his way out of the situation, thanks to claims of being “so close.”

Eventually the two climbed down Jacob’s ladder (get it?) and head into a totally random cave that appeared to have some sort of musical instrument and a scale holding one black and one white rock. (Those were not the same stones Jack found on the Adam and Eve skeletons in the cave in Season One, by the way.) As an “inside joke,” Fake Locke grabbed the white stone and tossed it into the ocean. And then he lit a torch and took Sawyer into the Cave of Names.

While I do think the Man in Black is “the bad guy” and that his plan IS to kill all of the 815ers, I don’t think he was lying about the Cave of Names. I think over the course of time, Jacob identified people (how? Not sure – maybe by wandering around the world and observing behaviors?) he thought could one day take his place, serve as the ultimate protector of the Island, and prove to MIB that humankind was inherently good. Then he found ways to get them to the Island. He kept track of them all in this cave and assigned numbers to them because he had “a thing for numbers.” And that, my friends, might be all the insight you ever get into The Numbers. (I actually don’t think it will be, but I’ve never been that interested in this particular mystery, so I’m OK if that’s the extent of the reveal.)

The gang’s all listed, with the glaring exception of Kate and the weirdness of not knowing if Jin or Sun was meant to be one of Jacob’s candidates. My first thought upon not seeing Kate’s last name was that I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that in the original pilot for the entire series, KATE was supposed to be the hero (and Jack was supposed to die). So maybe in the end Kate will still end up as the Island’s ultimate savior, and Jacob purposely didn’t list her because he knew that the MIB might use the information in the cave for eeeevil one day? Who knows. That really doesn’t seem like it would work, though, because Kate’s never felt a strong connection to the Island, like Locke and Jack (and even Hurley sometimes) have. Another idea is that Jacob simply didn’t write ALL of the names out because he knew that if MIB ever found the cave and went after everyone listed, he might kill all of them. If the “Harry Potter Horcrux” theory I mentioned in a past post is valid, then Jacob might’ve had reason to leave at least one name off of the cave wall so that there would still be part of his soul left within one or more candidates. I could seriously write for a loooong time about all of the possibilities the Cave of Names brings forth, but, um, I’d rather not. So let’s talk about Sawyer’s options.

Now that he knows he’s up for the title of Head Cheese, Sawyer needs to decide what he wants to do. The way Fake Locke sees it, there are three choices: 1) Do nothing and possibly wind up dead, 2) Take Jacob’s place (though I think Fake Locke neglected to mention that doing so would probably require a little more than saying, “Hey everybody, I’m the new Jacob and you will treat me with respect!!!”, or 3) Get outta dodge with a little help from Fake Locke.

Because we’ve seen a season of real-world events courtesy of the Oceanic Six, it’s easy to forget that Sawyer has been stuck on the Island for three years. He’s lost his ladylove, he is sick and tired of the other survivors, and we wants OUT. Does he know that Fake Locke is probably going to try and kill him? I think so. But does he care? That is the question. Sawyer has nothing to lose and might not even mind dying. So he might go along with Fake Locke’s plan, whatever that ends up being. Though I personally think that you can’t out-con a born con man, and therefore Sawyer would never let himself get played. I think he’s going to pull one over on MIB before it’s all said and done.

And once again, I DO think the Man in Black wants control of the Island and is therefore precisely who the Island needs protecting from. If he’s been alive THAT long, he has no home to go back to. He probably wants to totally destroy the Island out of revenge for whatever wrongs he suffered earlier in his life – perhaps when he was mortal. Recall that he mentioned being betrayed and losing someone he loved. I’m confident we’ll get those details in the next fourteen episodes.

MIB is clearly trying to manipulate Sawyer into doing something that will result in him (MIB) having more power. He’s picked off Locke and possibly Sayid, and now he’s focused on Sawyer. Anyone else with an uncrossed name on the cave wall will be next, just like Richard said. What has Richard ever done for us to NOT trust him, people? Look into those supposedly un-eyelinered (yeah right) eyes!!! Can’t you see he’s telling the truth?!?

Elsewhere on the Island…GOODBYECRUEL WORLD

Surprise, surprise… Ben LIED to a distraught Ilana and told her that MIB killed Jacob. Upon hearing that her boss was then pushed into the fire pit, she pulled out her handy dandy pouch and started pouring Jacob’s ashes into it. Which made me think, “Um, has Jacob died before? Is that where all of the other ash came from?” Kinda gross. But also kinda cool. That’s as far as I’m going to let my mind go with this theory right now, though.

Ilana informs the rest of the group that they best head to the Temple, but they decide to give Real Locke a proper burial first. Ben begrudgingly uttered the most inappropriate eulogy of all time (or maybe I’m not aware of the etiquette – is it OK to admit you murdered the guy being buried?) and then Lapidus grumbled the best follow-up of all time. “Weirdest damn funeral I’ve ever been to.”

Oh, geez, I almost forgot. Ilana gave us a key bit of information as they were putting Locke to rest: The Man in Black is now frozen in Locke’s form – no more shapeshifting into Zombie Dad or Alex or Yemi or whoever else he’s been over the years. Why? Who knows – it probably has something to do with Jacob dying. I don’t really care about the reason, all I care about is the fact that the burial of one Locke body and the existence of another one that isn’t going anywhere unless something drastic happens is enough for me to keep hope alive for my “Real Locke is in there somewhere” theory mentioned above.

Alrighty, then. Though bad things might go down if Sawyer leaves the Island, it doesn’t mean we can’t. Time for the flashes.

LOVE AND MARRIAGELOVE AND MARRIAGEGO TOGETHER LIKE AHORSE AND CARRIAGE

You can bet that I was prepared to be crying my eyes out during all of Locke’s off-Island scenes. Things certainly started out looking grim, didn’t they? He fell flat on his face trying to get out of his van and then got drenched by the sprinklers (which evoked happier times when he’d predict downpours on the Island). But then he laughed it off, out came Helen, and we learned that they’re happily engaged and soon to be married.

When she mentioned the wedding, she also mentioned getting her parents and HIS DAD to go to Vegas and do the whole shebang shotgun-style. And then Lost fans around the world cried to the heavens, “Saaaaaaay wwwwhhhhhaaaaaa???”

Now, like I can only imagine everyone else did, I assumed that the father in question was NOT the Anthony Cooper we’ve come to detest over the series. The guy who stole Locke’s kidney, pushed him out of a high-rise and left him for dead, and then mysteriously showed up bound and gagged on the Island, was revealed to be the Original Sawyer, and was finally ceremoniously strangled by Sawyer/James.

Surely it wasn’t THAT Bad Dad, right?

Wrong.

Thanks to the awesome Brothers Headington at GetLostPodcast.com, we have this screenshot from Locke’s cubicle, and displayed proudly is a picture of him hunting with dear ol’ pop.

NOW is the time we can all cry to the heavens, “Saaaaay whhhhaaaaaaaa?????”

I have NO IDEA what to make of this. Helen and Locke met in the original timeline because they were both at an anger management session. Locke was there trying to get over the whole “my dad stole one of my organs” thing. So if he’s got a picture of Anthony in his office and Helen’s talking about him coming to their wedding, it’s unlikely that he did anything to cause Locke to seek therapy. Helen and Locke must have met some other way. And I HIGHLY doubt Locke’s paralysis was a result of his father trying to kill him. Which probably also means that it wasn’t Orderly Abaddon who put the walkabout idea in Locke’s head. I repeat: I have NO IDEA what to make of any of this. Why would his dad be a con man in one timeline and not the other?

MEET THE NEW BOSSSAME AS THE OLD BOSS

Since I skipped ahead a bit to talk about Locke’s cubicle, let’s stick with that scene for a minute. Randy Nations, representing all that is wrong with Corporate America and sending chills down my spine in the process, was still Locke’s boss in the alternate timeline, and was still an incredible prick. He found out that Locke hadn’t been at a conference in Australia and straight-up fired him.

But never fear, because there was a bright yellow H2 parked next to Locke’s van, and that could only mean one thing: Hugo Reyes had arrived to save the day. As he did in the original timeline, Hurley owned the box company Locke had been employed with, and – in an effort to make up for Randy’s douchery – hooked Locke up at his temp agency. Where Rose works. BOOM!

JUST GIMME SOME TRUTH

As I suspected in my “LA X” write-up, Rose has terminal cancer in the alternate timeline, since the Island’s powers aren’t around to cure her. She seems to be handling her situation well, but has no patience for Locke’s delusions. Even though their exchange about finding Locke a job that was “a little more realistic” ripped my heart into ten bazillion shreds, a teeny part of me was chuckling because I ran a contest in November where people were supposed to send in tongue-in-cheek ideas about something we’d see go down on the show in its final season. The winner, Dirte, entered: “Someone Finally Tells Locke Something That He Actually CAN'T Do." Whaddaya know, Dirte was right!

Once Locke had returned home, however, he toyed with the idea of having a consultation with the spinal surgeon he’d met at the airport (I loved when Locke explained to Helen that “He’d lost something, too”). But after dialing Jack’s office, he quickly hung up. Not before Helen heard the call, though, and confronted Locke about what was going on. Cue the arrival of the Case o’ Knives.

Locke spilled the truth about the walkabout and losing his job, and I was seriously afraid that Helen was going to dump his ass right there and then Locke would end up a sad, pathetic dude once again. Instead, she was like, “I love you for YOU!”, ripped up Jack’s card (yes, I shrieked in horror) and then gave her man a big ol’ kiss. She also reminded him that miracles DO happen. His initial assertion that “there’s no such thing” was of course exactly what Jack said on the Island at one point. The parallels were flying all over the place like Hot Pockets in this episode.

One last comment before we leave Helen… I never believed that she had actually died of a brain aneurysm in 2006 like Abaddon claimed she did in the original timeline when Locke went off-Island to try and convince the O6 to return. I figured that Abaddon just didn’t want Locke to be distracted from his mission, so he had a tombstone erected to throw Locke off of the trail. I really, really hope that she remains alive and kickin’ in this new set of off-Island occurrences, because my heart won’t be able to take watching Locke lose her now that he seems to have truly found happiness. ARE YOU LISTENING, WRITERS?!?!?

One more last last comment: I still have faith that Jack and Locke WILL cross paths again. They’ve got to.

HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL

In Locke’s final off-Island segment, we see that he’s found work at a school. During a break he goes into the teacher’s lounge and there’s some sniveling guy droning on about how no one ever brews a fresh pot of coffee. When Locke asked for Earl Grey I actually cheered, because anyone who knows me knows that there are two things in this world that I cannot do without: 1) Kiehl’s lip balm and 2) a cup of Earl Grey each morning. I got a huge kick out of Locke being a fellow tea-lover. Let me have my moment, OK? Sheesh, I had to endure his funeral earlier in the hour, remember.

Anyway, the big WTF moment in this flash was of course the reveal of Ben as the sniveling teacher. Cordial introductions are made. And… scene.

My initial point of confusion was how Ben could even be alive. When all hell was breaking loose at the Swan site in 1977, he was still deep within the Temple being healed from Sayid’s assassination attempt. I assumed that if the Island had been destroyed, Ben would’ve died. His presence in the teacher’s lounge makes me think that a theory I mentioned two write-ups ago might be correct: Jughead didn’t decimate the Island in the alternate timeline, but it might have caused some other chain of events to occur that still concluded with the Island sinking. In that scenario, Young Ben would’ve had time to evacuate. Would that mean that European History Teacher Ben has memories of his time on the Island? Or am I totally off base here and the alternate timeline veered from the original timeline’s course much earlier than 1977? It’s late and I can’t drink another cuppa Earl Grey or else I’ll be up all night, so I’ll let you guys tell me what you think could be going on with the Ben situation.

My final thought about this episode is this: when I heard that its title was “The Substitute,” I would’ve never guessed that it was, in the most literal sense, referring to Locke as a substitute teacher. “The Substitute” seems more in line with other episode titles like “The Constant” and “The Variable” – you know, algebra-y terms and whatnot – the “substitution method” to solving equations, yadda yadda yadda. That’s probably the real meaning of the title, what with all the talk about “candidates” being replacements/substitutes for Jacob, the MIB attempting to pass himself off as Locke, etc., etc. I’m not going anywhere else with this thought. Just felt like sharing.

That’s all for this episode, folks! Let me leave you with a hilarious picture that longtime LLL reader Wanders (from the awesome Mary Worth & Me blog passed along. This is an untouched photo of a very suspicious snow removal truck he spied in his office parking lot earlier this week. He wrote, "I have to tell you... When I saw it, I truly was jolted. Then I remembered, I live in the real world, and I was okay."

78 comments:

“I Don’t Wanna Be” by Gavin Degraw“Blame It” by Jamie Foxx“Always Something There to Remind Me” by Naked Eyes“I’m Goin’ Down” by Bruce Springsteen “Goodbye Cruel World” by Pink Floyd“Love and Marriage” by Frank Sinatra“Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who“Gimme Some Truth” by John Lennon “High School Confidential” by Jerry Lee Lewis

I think that opening shot (or shots) from the monsters perspective furthers my guess that there are 2 smoke monsters. It's outside of Sawyer's house (and looked white in the window reflection), then suddenly shifts to being somewhere else entirely to cut Richard down. Then shortly after Fake Locke is walking into the barracks where the smoke monster already was. Seems pointless to be there, go somewhere else, and then come back to the exact same spot later on. Perhaps Jacob can be a smoke monster too. Maybe the light smoke monster is what Locke saw and described as beautiful.

"The Man in Black is now frozen in Locke’s form – no more shapeshifting into Zombie Dad or Alex or Yemi or whoever else he’s been over the years." I thought this was a MAJOR revelation!My first thought when Ilana said this was if he's frozen into whoever he's changed into then MIB was NEVER any of these other forms! Kinda like a 'you can use this card only once' deal, & so he was never a shapeshifted anybody. But who was playing the zombie card then? Frikked if I know...

I think the incident caused changes beyond just 1977. Maybe Ben's mother never died and he never went to the island with Roger. Lots of things could be changed. Maybe Sawyer's parents were never killed, since he seemed a bit less surly in the flash-sideways.

excellent, as usual! And thanks for the lyric section titles and photo captions - I know you said you weren't going to do them since you were writing a BOOK and all - so just want to say thanks for that!!! :-)

I kept wondering about the loophole, and how it might still be in play after Ben aced Jacob. But in the lat episode, the flashbacks during Ben's explanation were pretty clearly showing that while Ben shanked Jacob, MIB is the one who couldn't wait for a regular death and booted our man into the fire while he was still alive.

I totally missed that the first time through. Might be important later...

Just a few quick thoughts on why Jacob "chose" the people he did. I think he needs each of their abilities to defeat un-Locke. Let's just say for a minute that Jacob knows exactly how this needs to play out. All along he's been "guiding" the last "group" to the island to play specific roles in the "end-game."

I'm not going to get into a lot of detail but I'll give just a few examples of how each key player has played a vital role in getting us to where we are.

Jacob needs Jack because he can literally "fix" people and he's a natural leader. Everyone followed Jack at some point or another and he also fixed a few along the way.

Jacob needs Kate for her ability to track people and to "persuade" Jack and Sawyer to do what is needed to be done to get everyone where they need to be. Think about it, Jack wasn't entirely sure about dropping jughead down the well until Kate endorsed the idea. Sawyer played along with the others to protect Kate. Her role isn't easily defined but there's no denying that without her the path we're on would be entirely different.

Sayid is needed for his military skills and his talent with electronics. Without Sayid, the radio signal from Rosseau never gets heard. The computer in the hatch is a goner and the swan implodes well ahead of schedule and so on. Looking back we can see where Sayid saved the day/plan numerous times.

Jin and Sun are necessary as well. Jin was vital to the raft plan but it never happens if Sun remains quiet about her ability to speak english. Sun also played a huge role by helping jack save Shannon. Jin was a fisherman. He was vital in feeding everyone early on.

Locke played numerous roles in the plan. His hunting ability was vital early on. His curiosity discovered the hatch and more or less put the whole thing in motion. He played a huge role in getting Jack to assume the leadership role. And finally, Locke was needed to set the end game in motion. He needed to "die" so un-Locke could be released and the stage was set for the final battle.

That leaves Sawyer and Hugo. So what's a con-man got to do with Jacob's grand plan? We're seeing it right now. Sawyer is the last but most important piece of the puzzle. He's conning un-Locke and leading him right to where Jacob needs him to be.

All of which will end with the one "pure soul" of the bunch assuming the role of island overseer. Yup. Hurley.

Just a thought but if you ask me, it really explains why it's these people at this time.

Let me know what you think. (infrared41@neo.rr.com)

Love your work by the way. I anxiously await your recap after every new episode.

I'm always on the lookout for clues in the background just like that picture of Anthony Cooper and son. In "what kate does" i KNEW that juliet was going to be working at the mechanics garage. When kate went into the back room i saw her name briefly on the wall. And it just made perfect sence too, after all she was the mechanic in Dharmaville! but alas the scene ended and no juliet. I rewinded back to where i saw her name and it said Toilet, not Juliet. Awwwww, that would have been just rockin if i had picked up on a juliet switcheroo before she came on screen.

Thanks for writing such great reviews and keeping with the original format with pictures/captions.BTW... Looks like someones a bigtime "The Princess Bride" fan. Anyone else pick up on that one?

Im always looking out in the background for little nuggets of gold like the picture of Anthony Cooper and son. In "what kate does" i KNEW that juliet was going to show up working at that mechanics garage. When kate headed into the back room i saw her name briefly on one of the walls. It made perfect sense couz she worked as a mechanic in Dharmaville. But alas, the scene ended and no juliet! i rewinded back to the part where i saw her name and it said Toilet, not Juliet... D'oh! It would have been so great to pick up on a Juliet switcheroo before she came onto screen.

Thanks for keeping with the original layout of your reviews. I love the pictures you choose and the captions that go with it. looks like someone is a bigtime "The Princess Bride" fan!

AWESOME recap. So with the way things have been going on in the off-island time line...I think that Ben's mother didn't die after giving birth to him in the forest...thus NO meeting Horace on the side of the road and NO janitor job for Roger and NO Ben coming to the island and being a manipulative little... ;) Just my theory...we shall see!

Just wanted to say I love how you Americans refer to trousers as 'pants' - which of course in UK English mean Y-fronts, boxers, knickers etc. Which totally puts a new slant on Sawyer saying: "I'd better put some pants on ..."

Another great write-up, E. I think this might be my first time comment, but I've been following your awesome blog since halfway through season 4, and I'm pretty sure you deserve a medal on top of your book deal.

I have to say, after the drudgery of last week's episode (I know you enjoyed it, but it bored the pants off of me), The Substitute reminded me why I love this show. I was pretty much shaking alternately with excitement, anticipation, glee, sadness or shock throughout that whole episode.

I'm surprised you haven't made more of perhaps the biggest reveal to any of the questions about LOST we've had so far - why are they on the island. I mean, ok, the MIB isn't exactly trustworthy, but it's still an enormously revealing answer.

On Jo's site, someone mentioned that in one of the "enhanced" versions of the earlier episodes in Season 6, there was a note saying something to the effect that the off-island world was 'what would have happened if Flight 815 had landed' I think it's interesting that it was worded that way rather than 'what would have happened if the bomb had gone off'. I really don't believe the bomb went off (if only for the simple fact that a hydrogen bomb needs a second conventional weapon to explode right next to it in order start the chain reaction leading to its own detonation. No matter how hard Juliet hit the bomb with that rock, we can safely assume that she did not have the force of a conventional weapon ;-) Too many things are different in the off-island world and if Faraday's mom had been killed before he was even born, there never would have been such a plan, would there?

I have a sneaking suspicion that Unlocke has been doing exactly what he is accusing Jacob of having done, i.e. he's been manipulating all these people for a very long time now and even off the island, like our poor real Locke.

I think that Sawyer was not as drunk as all that and is now on one of his "long cons" with Unlocke in the role of Cassidy.

The big difference I can see between Jacob and Unlocke is that Jacob has always reminded people that they have free will and no matter what the situation, they always have a choice. Unlocke just plays on people's desire to blame all their problems on someone else (in this case, Jacob). And I'm sure Unlocke was behind the supposed "kill your dad to join the Others" rule.

I sure hope something good comes of this for the real Locke as his new off-island life seemed so promising and, like you, I really like Helen and never thought she was actually dead.

I have no idea where this is all leading but it looks like the ride is going to be a lot of very nerve-wracking excitement.

Excellent write-up as always. Your recaps never let me down. The Substitute was the first real highlight in this season thus far. As for Ben being a teacher off-island, which was impersonated brilliantly by Michael Emerson, I'm convinced he was evecuated after the incident. In this timeline the Jughead didn't go off and didn't contain the exotic matter. Therefor the matter chainreacted. They poured concrete on it, like they did in Chernobyl, causing the matter to undermine the island and sink it eventually. This was a slow process, allowing the Dharma-folks to evacuate the island.Namaste!Marcus from Berlin

Thanks for the write up! First, made props for the Bruce Springsteen song - love love love that one! Second, I think the theory that Locke is alive in Flocke's body is very founded and we were shown even more evidence than his screaming Locke's old mantra.

In the scene where Flocke and Sawyer were climbing down Jacob's ladder, and Sawyer nearly fell to his death...it's like it was John trying to save Sawyer, not Smokey. Give it another look-see, I think you will see what I am seeing.

Thanks e - another great recap! Loved the 'hotpockets' comment!I've read some other recaps that said they also saw Harper in the school staff room, which I missed, but if it's true then that's another confusing character that 'shouldn't' be there just like Desmond on the plane, or Ben at the school. I don't want the show to end, but I also can't wait to find out how this all plays out!

Brilliant as usual e!I thought that your point about Jacob having died already and that's why Ilana had the little bag was a good one! Maybe it's like the phoenix myth, Jacob dies and then comes back from the ashes. That would also explain why Smokey can't pass through the ash, because the ash is a part of Jacob and so Smokey can't get past it. But that would also mean that Ilana knows that the ash is protective, so thats why she collects it. I don't know... maybe I'm just clutching at straws :D

Say, what if the "Kwon" listed in the cave is Ji Yeon? In a way, that would be "Sun + Jin", and remember that they couldn't have kids off-island. So, for Ji Yeon to have been born, Sun and Jin needed to go the island. Of course: we know that Jacob didn't touch Ji Yeon before, since she wasn't even born, but he touched both her parents at their wedding... I dunno, seems plausible to me.

If the plane didn't crash, then Sayid was never on the island, and he never came back on flight 316 to travel back in time and shoot little Ben causing him to go to the temple for healing. Ben would have still been in Dharmaville and possibly evacuated. However, that would they have been evacuated if Daniel Faraday wasn't there to tell Chang to evacuate the women and children?

I think Sawyer might have some special abilities where island apparitions come into the picture. The apparitions seem to appear only to the person who would recognize them, but Sawyer could see Kate's horse. "Do you know that horse, Freckles?"

I thought the title of the episode referred to Eloise Hawking calling John Locke a ''substitute'' back in season 5, when she was explaining to Jack why he had to bring John's body back with him to the island. He was 'The Substitute' for Christian.

I'm reminded of Locke's conversation with Charlie: "You see this little hole? This moth's just about to emerge. It's in there right now, struggling. It's digging it's way through the thick hide of the cocoon. Now, I could help it - take my knife, gently widen the opening, and the moth would be free - but it would be too weak to survive. Struggle is nature's way of strengthening it."

I'm hoping that we'll see Locke emerge from his captivity like the moth emerges from a cocoon.

Also, I'm a converted believer that MIB = Smoke Monster. I'm satisfied that there was a break in the ash, and MIB diabolically pretended to be trapped to set up the events that are happening now.

Erika, another great recap as usual. I don't know if anyone else caught this but when Locke was at home calling Jack's office, the phone he was using was black and white, as was his coffee cup in the bath tub. I don't know if the writers are trying to tell us something. Just saying. You had me laughing again as you always do. Great insights. Can't wait for next week's recap.

E - I've been a lurker for years and have loved your site. This year my son has gone off to boot camp and thus cannot watch this last season. But thanks to you, I can keep him up to date by printing and sending your recaps to him weekly. No way could I ever begin to keep him up to date if it wasn't for you. Thanks and Semper Fi!

Hi E-First off, we know that you have the book deal happening, but I am so appreciative that you are still doing the pictures and the song title headers, I am sure this takes up a lot of time but is so appreciated.

Loved your recap as always especially the shout out to The Princess Bride, one of my all time faves.

After FLocke's speech about having once been mortal, losing love, etc - THAT to me really said "Real, original Locke is down in there somewhere." That, coupled with "Don't tell me what I can't do", I think we'll see our Original Locke once again.

If the creepy blonde kid is Young Jacob, who did he mean when he said "You know you can't kill him"? If he meant Jacob, wouldn't he have said "You know you can't kill me"? Or would that have been too much of a give away? Or by "him" did he mean someone else like Richard or Sawyer?

Thank you for writing this blog! You help summarize/clarify each episode in such a funny way.

The ATL is blowing my mind. Things are changing that I don't think should have. I know, I know butterfly effect... but Locke being engaged to Helen and Locke's Dad being on good terms with him... I can't figure it out. I love all the little connections though... I knew Hurley would save the day! BTW- I totally agree that the boy is young Jacob and have been surprised to hear other's opinions otherwise. All your reasons make perfect sense, but I just assumed it to be true when I watched it b/c the child looks just like Jacob!

Thanks for the write-up! I always look forward to your comments each week.

With the names in the cave, I was wondering whether the candidates needed to be male. Then, the "Kwon" would refer to Jin and that would explain Kate's absence. Of course, this explanation doesn't really make sense (why did Jacob visit Kate when she was little then?) and it doesn't seem like a direction the writers would go but it is the "simplest" explanation.

Also, if Locke's dad is not a bad guy in the alternate timeline, what does that mean for Sawyer?!? I can't wait to see his storyline.

Here's what I'm thinking about the name Kwon in the cave. In a previous episode, we learned that Sun was going by the last name Paik, and a commenter told us that it is normal for Korean women to keep their maiden name after marriage. If so, wouldn't Kwon then refer to Jin only?

Don't know how Ben is alive in the alternate timeline but this is one case where I hope we get a decent explanation rather than an excuse to use a rather un-used so far Michael Emerson. Either they've got to show he was somehow on the sub (and returned with Ethan), or there was time to evacuate the island in which case there should be 2 off-island versions of Hawking and Widmore, one in the original and one in the alternate timeline.

Also how Locke can be on good terms with his dad also has to be a mystery. In the last series Sawyer said he could have left the island and changed his past because his parents died in 1976 i.e. pre-incident. Hence this must have still been done by Anthony Cooper, conman, plus it also means Sawyer is the only 'candidate' who was touched by Jacob before the incident, and so is the only one who was touched by Jacob in the alternate timeline - is he now the 'new Jacob' in the alternate timeline, now that Jacob presumably died in the incident?

1) Remember our Losties had some adventures way back in the 1950's, so it's possible the Sideways universe shifted way back then, not just in '77. Or that the blast changed time in both directions.

2) I’m wondering about the numbers and their timeline. Our Numbered Six (nearly the same as the Oceanic Six, just swap out Ford for Kate) are low numbers. But crossed out names go up into the three hundreds. These are clearly not sequential through time, at least time as we experience it.

3) One of the commenters on the Ravelry.com Lost forum suggested the numbers are actually a summons - thus the broadcast. They call the person (who is somehow connected to their number) to the Island. Interesting!

4) In the early years I never got the swooning over Sawyer - he was such a selfish jerk that I couldn't imagine being attracted to him. But now that he's a Mench I suddenly see the hotness. *grin* I too think he's pulling a long con on Flocke.

5) Poor Vozz! I bought his (awesome) book last month but I'm sending him some good vibes.

I king of got the sense that "The Substitute" had a double meaning, like a lot of the episode titles do. One substitute was obviously Locke become a substitute teacher, and the other was the focus of the non-FST part of the episode, the MIB, who is kind of subbing in Locke's body. You should like this theory E, as it implies that the MIB's presence in Locke's body may be temporary. I know his real body is buried, but he clearly has a spare now if he needs one.

I am new to your blog but I am enjoying this season immensely. I really look forward to seeing all these people, who in the other timeline don't know one another,will all be drawn together by a deep sense of purpose knowing that their destinys lie together. That will be one hell of an episode and it may be the finale who the penultimate episode one. Whatever I think your Locke will be redeemed.

The theory I'm running with right now is that the Alternate Timeline is how everyone's lives would have unfolded if Jacob had meddled in their lives, to "push" them to the Island.

Erika, in regard to your alt-tag for the picture of Rose, "Sorry, but 'good with knives' is not really a marketable skill," I beg to differ. Rose could have gotten him a job at Simon's Butcher Shop, working with Jill. How would that be for a collision of universes? :o)

Also, the first person interviewing Locke at the temp agency was also the psychic Hurley's dad took him to, to break the curse.

Finally, I was going to post my theory on how Ben got off the Island, but Islandgirl beat me to it.

This Jacob Ilana connection really is a bit puzzeling. In a flashback scene we see Jacob with gloves on when asking Ilana for her help. Does some rule apply here for him not to touch her? And yes she does remember him from an earlier time. Was she ever on the island before? (The oceanic 6 left and came back!)I do find this a very smart move on Jacobs part. He always seems to be thinking a few moves ahead of the MIB.Why else would he recruit Ilana if she wasn't already in play from an earlier time? I think Jacob has always been prepared to prove the MIB wrong about something by saying that it only ends once and that anything before that is just progress. I believe he knew how badly MIB wanted to kill him and he prepared Ilana with some vital information. And It's Ilana That has had my interest for some time.

This Jacob Ilana connection really is a bit puzzeling.In a flashback scene we see Jacob with gloves on when asking Ilana for her help. Does some rule apply here for him not to touch her? And yes she does remember him from an earlier time. Was she ever on the island before? (The oceanic 6 left and came back!)I do find this a very smart move on Jacobs part. He always seems to be thinking a few moves ahead of the MIB.Why else would he recruit Ilana if she wasn't already in play from an earlier time? I think Jacob has always been prepared to prove the MIB wrong about something by saying that it only ends once and that anything before that is just progress. I believe he knew how badly MIB wanted to kill him and he prepared Ilana with some vital information. And It's Ilana That has had my interest for some time.

Thinking again about Ilana (always on my mind now)Wouldn't it be a scenaro like: If Jack is the Candidate (ultimately)and that Kate would be his future 'Ilana'. And he could come to her and ask for her help if he needed it. Does that make Ilana the women between Jacob and MIB? (But then MIB would have recognized her on the beach. Right?)

Hm, interesting..the 'Smoke monster';Somehow I wonder if its totally true that 'MIB is Smokey' or better that he is the ONLY one.

After looking back at some episodes, and reading some translations what the 'whispers' are whispering, I think that maybe there are actually numurous 'dark clouds' on the island.

Entities so to speak, taking on the form of various animals (and people) on the island. The way 'whispers'are often saying things like "did he see us..?" "is she behind us.." "is that?.." " Kill the pilot, chase them away" etc.

'The monster' can`t get past it; or as was said : "to protect the Barracks area from the Island's abundant WILDLIFE"..

Keeps me wondering though what with the fact that 'young Locke' had a drawing of a smokepillar on his wall (if that is what it is)..they encountered before? maybe Locke had been in contact with the monster(s)far longer than we think?..

Also about the 'blond kid' being a young Jacob or something; no, too obvious I think. An older Aaron, maybe, just in a way that an older Walt appeared as "a giant" to Locke. His clothing could ofcourse mean anything at a point of his life at that age. But the way the talked, it seems a even a higher force then Jacob and MIB.

Also a little clarification (I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this).

While the "Jack dying/Kate as de facto leader" idea is definately true, this was in a VERY early version of the script, long before it became the Lost we know and love.

I've always had a thing for the "Jack dying at the start" storyline as a basis for theories, but after years of research it turns out to be so far removed from canon to not even be worth mentioning.

Just thought I should let you know so you are not building any hopes on that one - the "Kate" that was to become the leader was NOT anything like the Kate we now know - same goes for "Jack", in fact I think in that version of the script those weren't even their names - "Jack" was called something like "The Colonel" and "Kate" was something else too, and they were both slightly older I think.

So there you go - sorry for the vagueness, but I am 95% convinced that all of the above is true :)

love the post -i thiink ben could still be alive cause . . . - because the plane never crashed in alternate none of the events leading to the time skipping would have happened. the effect of the losties interaction from the time skipping (including locke meeting alpert) should then satisfactorily explain why the alternate timeline is totally different from the original timeline pre 815 crash.﻿ because the incident did not happen the time skips did not happen and the two timelines would have actually diverged at the point of the oldest time skip interaction (not in 1977). could anyone please remind me what this was? - doctoroctopus8

I've been thinking about Ilana, too. She seems very Mary Magdalene-like. She went into the 'tomb' complete with huge stone door and asked where 'his' body was. I think MM was the one whom Jesus 'redeemed' from demons or something. Ilana (a Hebrew name incidentally) does have that sort of devotion that was often attributed to Jesus' women followers. I wonder what he saved her from to have such a devoted follower.

And regarding the Alternate timeline - I'm wondering if each person's ultimate choice at the end will be to choose a timeline to end up on. Both realities will exist and they can choose which one to merge with.

Someone might have already mentioned this but I'm too lazy to read through all the comments, but did you notice the spider crawling on Locke's body when Ilana and her peeps were walking from the Temple? I IMMEDIATELY thought about NIkki and Paolo and their freakish spider-induced paralysises (what's the plural for paralysis anyway?). Perhaps far-fetched, but interesting nonetheless, no?

Perhaps as Kate does not a number and so is not part of the formulaic solution, she is exactly what MIB showed to her, the proverbial ‘Dark horse’. It could be, since I would not predict a fully happy ending to season 6, that the feud between Jacob and MIB was already played out in the future resulting in Jack taking over the position of white and Kate that of the black Island protector. Since Jack has always been in love with Kate, would he not do anything to try and stop this from happening? What we would be seeing then over the 6 seasons would be Jack manipulating events in order not to try and save Jacob or the Island but rather to avoid Kate being taken over and becoming WIB. Why Jack would not remember could, for sake of a quick rationale, be ‘one of the rules’. RVSAID

doctoroctopus8 - Jacob and MIB are Yin and Yang which im sure millions have people have said before– both neither essentially good nor bad. Wiki explains: dropping a stone in a calm pool of water will simultaneously raise waves and lower troughs between them, and this alternation of high and low points in the water will radiate outward until the movement dissipates and the pool is calm once more. Coincidentally all the lost promo last supper pictures have locke sitting (dark/yin/even numbers/valleys/mib) in the middle and then the 1st people either side are standing ( odd/yang/light/odd numbers 15 and 23/mountains/jacob ) and then sitting again outside of him. WAY too much of coincidence.

From wiki - Yin and yang transform each other: like an undertow in the ocean, every advance is complemented by a retreat, and every rise transforms into a fall. Thus, a seed will sprout from the earth and grow upwards towards the sky – an intrinsically yang movement. Then when it reaches its full potential height it will fall.

The more creative force - Jacob (Yang), I think, wants the cycle of yin and yang to end and somehow prove his dominance over the more receptive Yin. I think Yang doesn’t understand the nature of the balance and his line “it only ends once and anything before that is just progress is ignorant of the whole yin/yang philosophy/symoblism which clearly is in evidence in this show”. I don’t think that either yin or yang will win but the balance will be restored.

So will mib( being influenced by locke by assuming his form)eventually assume the jacob mantle – ying and yang do transform each other. That would lead us to speculate that Jacobs replacement would actually take the MIB role – sounds twisted but feels kinda right knowing lost. It is also possible they both get replaced. Jack as Jacob has been touted quite a bit given the locke/jack conversation which mirrors jacob/mib. According to the numbers it is either Jack or Sawyer – the only odd numbers – to replace the big yang that is jacob.

Sawyer: "saw yer" saw yer what? Horse, and little boy. I think the con man turned decent guy has special powers of some sort, or else being nearly dead (or in a drunken stupor) gives you the ability to see.

I remember reading that the airplane pilot was to be the hero character, and that Jack would die. I don't remember Kate as hero...could be my fuddled pate.

I was totally hornswoggled by the yellow hummer. Never even expected Hurley, even though I expected him to own the box company. Sometimes it's easiest to hide stuff right in front of my face.

I did see daddy darnedest in the photo on Locke's desk, and I'm still trying to conjure up a scenario where he's a nice guy.

Fair haired boy - could be young Jake, or maybe one of many _editions_ of Jacob. The man-in-white and man-in-black could simply be roles to play (like the Village People)

I'm still holding out that white/black does not mean good/bad - it's a llittle too obvious. Yin/Yang, yeah I like that.

To explain the bizarre incongruities in the alternate timeline, you might have to drop the assumption that Jughead had anything to do with the timeline split at all. What if events occurring at different times (2008 and 1977) were moving forward simultaneously through some unknowable dimension of time and space? And perhaps the event that actually split the timeline happened in the future.While it's incredibly tempting to consider Universe LOST and Universe X as independent, you run the risk of forgetting completely about what I consider to be the most crucial event in the original timeline: Jacob's death. I think we might well learn that it was Jacob's burning that split time, not Jughead. And if that's the case, then alternate timeline theories might not dictate that anyone, anywhere HAS to be dead (including Ben AND Widmore).

SPOILER alertthe 4 lettter word which describes the island is WOMB. flocke will become jacob in new timline.old timeline will die.old timeline is a decaying fruit - new timeline fresh seed. the numbers are bad in old timeline because its lifeforce is dead. the numbers(like dna/life force) are different in new timeline and are good/lucky because the seed is a "healthy baby" and not an old person on its last legs.doctoroctopus8

I still think that Aaron could end up being Jacob (we still haven't been told why he's SO important - though we've been told many times that he is). With all the alternate time-lines and time-traveling I don't feel like this is a far reach.

If this is true, the young blonde boy could easily be both Aaron and Jacob.

Why hasn't anyone mentioned that John was substituting in a *SCIENCE* class...? The first thing I thought when I saw him behind the desk was "Man of science!!!!!" Helen seems to be his source of faith off the island.

I just rewatched again and noticed that after Locke shakes Hurley's hand in the parking lot he flashes a big smile. Then as the scene cuts to Locke in the sand (with the crab on him), his face appears to be smiling... unlike his face when they are burying him... seems odd, I thought it was funny... maybe I'm "infected". Nice job on the recaps! I'm slowly catching up!

Since I live in Mexico, I get the episodes 2 weeks later, so I just saw this one last night. Awesome. I have a theory as to why MIB is now "stuck" in Locke's body... because they actually gave him a proper burial. Remember, Yemi died in the plane crash and his body decayed in the wreckage. Christian was in a coffin that ended up who-knows-where when the plane crashed, so he never had a proper burial either.

I also think the creepy kid was an earlier version of Jacob. And I think when he said, "remember, you can't kill him." it meant that the MIB couldn't kill Sawyer because Jacob had touched him. Someone else could, but not MIB. I also think that MIB is looking for another loophole as a way to get off the island - he had to find someone else to kill Jacob for him, and he has to have someone else physically accompany him for him to escape. I agree with another comment that Jacob's role was not necessarily to protect the island, but to protect the rest of the world from MIB by keeping him imprisioned there.

In terms of the timeline, I think there are 3 possibilities. One, as Erika mentioned, is that the Incident did not destroy the island, but rather it slowly sank, post-1977. Thus Ben could be alive and uptight in a school somewhere. But that doesn't totally explain why Jack has a kid, Locke loves his dad, etc.

Second, and possibly in conjunction with the first, the Incident has consequences for the rest of the world somehow, post-1977, so that Jack, Locke and Kate, etc., all follow different life paths as of 1977 than the ones we previously knew of. Like the Butterfly Effect - if a group of crazy time-traveling plane crash survivors detonate a 50-year old nuclear bomb on a mysterious island in an unknown body of water, it will cause a man in American to become a substitute teacher.

Third (and warning, nerd alert), the Lost writers are choosing to follow the space-time continuum dynamic that was played out in the Star Trek Next Generation episode entitled "Parallels." As Data explains in the episode, "For any event there is an infinite number of possible outcomes. Our choices determine which outcome will follow. According to a theory, everything that can happen does happen in some other quantum reality." So maybe the non-crash timeline we are seeing is just another parallel timeline for these characters' lives, which is happening anyway, in another quantum reality, regardless of the Incident. That would explain why both pre- and post-1977 things would be different.

But it's probably the first two, unless we see some detail that seems to indicate otherwise.

Hi. i just rewatched "lighthouse" and some familiar names appeared on the 360 degree table with the mirrors such as "Dawson" (as in michael dawson), and "Linus" (as in ben linus), "Rousseau" (as in danielle rousseau), and of course all of the oceanic 6. Just thought you should know.